News
Flexible and eco-friendly through the Alps
The right decision for their wallet and for the environment: 150 young participants in CIPRA’s Youth Alpine Interrail project celebrated the end of their climate-friendly journey of discovery through the Alps by train and bus in Bern at the beginning of October 2022.
A signal for climate protection
From Triglav National Park in Slovenia to Radnig in Austria and Gondo in Switzerland, on 13 August 2022 people came together to set an example for climate protection. This year’s «Fire in the Alps» was held under the motto «The Alps need climate protection».
Co-housing instead of vacancies
What ideas are there for living together in the Alps? From co-housing to neighbourhood management in communities, a symposium in Saas-Fee/CH has helped shed light on these and other developments.
Point of view: the excessive character of the Olympics
High construction costs, unused sports facilities, environmentally damaging large-scale projects: loud criticism continues to surround the staging of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina/I. We must ask whether such sporting events still have a place in the Alps, says Vanda Bonardo, President of CIPRA Italy.
#alpinechangemaker wanted
Projects for a good life in the Alps: highly motivated people from the Alpine region can apply until 15 May with ideas for the “Alpine Changemaker Basecamp” (ACB). They can look forward to a transdisciplinary project week, exchanges with like-minded people and a one-year mentoring programme.
The Alpine tourism of the future
The results of CIPRA's Reset Alpine Tourism project show how the tourism industry can function in a more resilient and environmentally friendly way.
Waale, Suonen, Wasserleiten
Vital for the cultural landscape and biodiversity, and the epitome of community resource management: an application to UNESCO aims to turn traditional irrigation practices into an intangible cultural heritage asset.
Climate bridges to south-eastern Europe
The Climate Bridges project strengthens cooperation for transnational climate protection in the Western Balkans. Together with other NGOs, CIPRA Lab is setting up a network platform for this purpose – and is looking for good climate protection examples from south-eastern Europe.
Alpine-wide network for shepherds
What are the possibilities and challenges for a cross-border organisation for shepherds in the Alps? CIPRA held an online conference on 27 January 2022 with representatives from agricultural colleges, national authorities, nature conservation groups and shepherds' organisations to find answers.
Leaving few traces along the way
How do we leave as few traces as possible on our way to the mountains or other attractions? On 22 November 2021, around 150 participants travelled virtually through the Alps during an online conference and exchanged ideas on measures to guide visitors in sensitive natural areas.
Point of view: Let's finally press the reset button in tourism!
Mass tourism in the Alps has collapsed due to the ongoing Corona pandemic, and the opportunities for switching to environmentally and socially just tourism have increased. But they must also be exploited, says Hans Weber, Executive Director of CIPRA Switzerland.
Abandoned and uncultivated
Remote mountain villages in Piedmont/I have been struggling with heavy emigration for years. The region is now supporting people moving back to the mountains. A study from Austria shows how endangered Alpine agriculture actually is.
Innovations and aberrations
Helicopter flights and Australian white wine on the one hand, an eco-museum and recycled smartphones on the other: positive and negative awards from environmental organisations point the way to a more sustainable future.
Do you speak Alps?
A different dialect in every community: the linguistic diversity of the Alps is fascinating and constantly changing, which also makes it interesting for linguists. Using modern methods such as crowdsourcing, a research project is collecting dialect words across the Alps for a digital, living lexicon.
Under the magnifying glass
What treasures and resources are hidden in the Alps? How do we deal with them as sustainably as possible? These and similar questions are posed in the August 2021 issue of SzeneAlpen.
Mobile in the Alps
By rail, by road, by mountain path: numerous CIPRA projects show just how diverse sustainable mobility can be.
Changing the Alps together
Integrating marginalised groups better, reviving ghost towns in the Alps, or organising a meeting on “Rural Commons”: the first “Alpine Changemaker Basecamp” (ACB) in Valposchiavo/CH at the beginning of July 2021 saw around 30 participants from the Alpine region further developing their projects for a liveable future in the Alps.
How much is nature worth?
Alpine pastures that provide us with food. Trees that provide a pleasant microclimate. Alpine landscapes that heal and touch. At the beginning of July 2021, around 100 participants from all Alpine countries discussed the benefits and value of nature in the Alpine region at CIPRA’s Annual Conference in Biella/I.
New dual leadership for CIPRA
Bianca Elzenbaumer and Serena Arduino are the new Co-Presidents of CIPRA International. They succeed Katharina Conradin, who has been in office for almost seven years.
Kick-off for innovative youth projects
Outdoor lessons, a sustainably organised music festival, workshops on waste prevention: young people from Italy, Liechtenstein and Slovenia presented their ideas for a more sustainable future at the kick-off of the Alps2030 project on 9 December 2020.
Young, mobile, sustainable
Travelling through the Alps by train in a climate-friendly way: young adults campaigned for more sustainable mobility at the online workshop “Youth Alpine Interrail” in December 2020 at the “AlpenWoche Intermezzo”. They discussed with representatives from politics how nature experiences can motivate more climate protection and which political measures are necessary.
Developing Alpine culinary arts
The first competence centre for regional culinary arts in the Alps opened in autumn 2020 with the “Culinarium Alpinum” in Stans/CH, showing how the cooperation of various players is revitalising and developing Alpine food culture.
Youth and climate as the focus of AlpWeek
What do young people think about climate change in the Alps? This is the main theme of the AlpWeek Intermezzo, due to take place in Nice in December 2020.
Bees: small in size, big in effect
Why we need honey, pollinators and biodiversity: This question is the subject of the themed issue of SzeneAlpen, to be published in March 2020.
Sabbatical in the Alps
Take a longer break and give something back: The "Alpine Sabbatical" in Switzerland offers a meaningful alternative way of spending your free time.
Wanted: pioneering renovations and new buildings
The fifth edition of the international architecture prize, "Constructive Alps", has been launched. Renovations and new buildings that set an example for sustainable construction in the Alps can be submitted until 14 March 2020.
The Alps as cultural laboratory
Inspiration, shared experiences and participation: the annual CIPRA conference saw over 100 attendees from every Alpine country meet in Altdorf/CH at the end of October 2019 to discuss the “Alpine Cultural Workshop”. The event was organised by CIPRA International and CIPRA Switzerland.
Solemn vigils for dying glaciers
Many Alpine glaciers have already disappeared due to global warming. In September 2019, vigils in Italy and Switzerland drew attention to this fact.
With the Alps at our backs
The French city of Grenoble aims to become the 2022 “European Green Capital”. It can play its biggest trump card in the build-up to this coveted award: the Alps.
From archives to houses of the present
Alpine museums are about more than just wooden skis, farmhouse trunks and old photos. They preserve, exhort or inspire us – and thus have a vital role in society.